A Favorite White to Answer a Frequent Question

Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Millstone 2010

When I meet people and tell them what I do, one of the most common questions I get is, “What is your favorite wine?”

It’s complicated for me to answer, as I’m sure it is for a lot of wine lovers. Do I describe that sip of incredibly old Port I had years ago? That afternoon when I drank a vertical of some of the rarest, most stunningly aged wines I’ve ever had? Or do I tell them about the first wines I drank when I was just falling in love with wine—benchmarks for what would become my knowledge base?

I tell them it’s like trying to answer what my favorite song is. I can tell you what my favorite track is off of Kind of Blue, my favorite Frank Sinatra ditty, the pop song that I always turn up the volume on when it comes on the radio, or how that AC/DC song always gets my heart pumping.

Instead, I tend to answer this way: I tell them what I’m actually drinking. I describe the wines I gravitate toward because of my lifestyle and how I cook. Not necessarily what I’d serve if you came over for dinner, but what I open when I’m in the kitchen by myself, Kind of Blue is playing on my iPod, and I’m cooking dinner.

At the top of my list is Sauvignon Blanc. I love to cook with it and drink it while I’m cooking, and it pairs well with most of my cooking—which these days includes a lot of vegetables and Asian- or Mexican-inspired fare. If I squirt lime or lime juice in the food, it can pair with a Sauvignon Blanc. Even better is a bottle with a twist-off cap, as I rarely polish off a bottle in one sitting.

I found some Allan Scott Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Millstone 2010 at a local Whole Foods for about $15 and bought several bottles of this New Zealand white, so it has been making a regular appearance at my house for months now. It’s perfectly mouthwatering, with plenty of fresh lime juice, green apple, lemongrass and a hint of passion fruit. It sings with many different foods I prepare, and it’s refreshing and bright. I gave it 92 points, non-blind.